Letter-envelope



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.'

LETTEPvENVELOPE.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 47,508, dated May 2,1865.

T0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J AMES G. ARNOLD, of the city and county ofWorcester, State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in the Manufacture of Envelopes; and I hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same,reference being had'to the aecompanying drawing.

In the manufacture of envelopes the paper is cut into form calledblanks,77 (before folded,) and in order t0 cut the paper to the bestadvantage and work economically it is customary to cut a number at onceby a press or similar means, fitting them at once ready in form to befolded; and in running the foldingmachine it is necessary that they bevery accurately adjusted, and that the blanks be accurately fed, toavoid the least error in the position of the paper, that the fold may bemade to correspond exactly with the cut, for if it does not the resultis imperfect work.

The object of my invention is to obviate the necessity of absoluteaccuracy in the position of the paper and consequent running of themachine, and still make perfect work, making the fold and cut agree; andto these ends its nature consists in cutting the blank with a part leftat the corners to be cut in each one by a suitable cutting device in thefoldingmachine to correspond with the fold and its position in themachine, and thus always make perfect corners.

The accompanying drawing illustrates my invention and its operation.

A is a blank as heretofore cut by the press. B is one cut on my plan,the red lines indicating the parts left to be cut afterward by theaforesaid cutting device, to correspond to the fold which is shown bythe blue lines.

It will be seen that A can beV folded only where indicated to makeperfect corners; but the form of B allows considerable variation, for aslong as the corners fall on the paper it will make perfect Work, as thepart inclosed by red lines is cut to agree with the position of thefold, instead of the fold having to agree with the cut.

' The mechanism to accomplish this cutting Will'necessarily vary indetail in the different envelopemaking machines now in use; but theprinciples of said mechanism may be described asl follows, to enable anyone skilled in the art to apply and use my invention: Gutters ofsuitable forms are placed in the machine, so that one of each pair willbe below or under the paper or blank as it is received in place, and theother above the paper, either attached to a plunger sliding on it orhung on pivots of their own, to be operated before the plunger, orcreaser, or folders, as the case may be, cutting each corner tocorrespond in position with the working parts of the machine.

The under cutters may be either a part of suflicient to enable any toapply them to their machines.

In operating the machines this latitude of position enables them to berun very much faster and make better work, and is the more.

necessary, as paper is peculiarly liable to be affected by electricityon its surface, or to spring or be jarred out of place, but as eachblank comes to position and is held the cut is made to correspondproperly with the lines of fold, although each may vary a little inposition when the machine takes hold of it, the precise. form or outlineof the blank orithe` corner pieces cut away being not essential.

I claim- Cutting envelope-blanks in the manner and for the purposessubstantially as set forth and described'.

JAMES e. ARNOLD.

Wlitnesses:

CHARLES M. MILES, GHAELEsA. CHASE.

